Students and parents are happy with the announcement that the educational institutions will reopen from 12 September in compliance with the health rules. The teachers are happy, too. Dusting and cleaning of the educational institutions has begun. This is undoubtedly a happy moment. Earlier, the Ministry of Education said that SSC and HSC candidates will have classes every day. Others will have classes one day a week. It is because preparations have been made for the SSC exams in November and HSC exams in December. Only two to three months to go. The examination will be held on group-based subjects in curtailed curriculum. Bengali, English, Mathematics and elective subjects will not be in the syllabus.
In that case, question may arise, how helpful this exam will be in testing the quality of the students. There will still be hope, however, that students will be prepared as much as possible through the best use of the rest of the time.
But what will happen to the other students. How is it possible to take the exam in three months by taking classes one day a week? State minister for primary and mass education, Zakir Hossain, said there will be a Primary Education Completion examination for the primary students along with an annual examination. In his words, it may seem that educational institutions are being opened only for examinations. The matter of education has become secondary.
Otherwise, how will the students appear in the annual examination by taking classes one day a week for two-three months? Nothing has been clearly said as yet about the high school students, especially about the Junior School Certificate (JSC) exam. JSC students are in deep uncertainty. Some academics have suggested changing the academic year for primary and secondary schools to March. In that case students will have the time to prepare themselves. The next academic year will also end in 9 months.
However, questions were raised long ago about the rationality of the PEC and JSC examinations. According to academics, students are not benefiting from these exams. Only the coaching centres and note book business reap the benefit from it. The entire education at primary and secondary level is now relying on coaching and note books. Due to the pandemic, it was not possible to take the annual exam last year. Submitting assignment as an alternative to exam did not work. A quarter of teachers and guardians are responsible for this.
Another thing to keep in mind is that the eighth grade is not a separate level in our current education system. Separate levels are primary, secondary, higher secondary and higher education. In that case, it is necessary to reconsider the need for the final examination of the eighth grade. The less the burden of the test is imposed on the children, the better.
Education is at the top of the list of sectors that have suffered the most. Now the government has to pay more attention to how to recover from this this loss instead of putting emphasis on exams and bring the educational activities back to normal. Tests only for the sake of formality will not play any role in the development of education and students. Therefore, students should give priority to taking lessons in the classroom rather than sitting for exams only. Full time classes must be ensured in compliance with the hygiene rules.